The British Foreign Secretary announced a fresh set of sanctions targeting Russian officials in connection with the partial mobilization taking place in Russia.
“Today we punished those who made this call and sent thousands of Russian citizens to war,” the secretary stated. He emphasized that Britain will persist with a combination of sanctions and military aid to support Ukraine, and that the measures aim to undermine the Russian military apparatus. London maintains that these sanctions have notably affected the Russian armed forces, including forcing the regime to improvise by sourcing semiconductors from everyday kitchen appliances to restock equipment.
Who is sanctioned?
Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; Arkady Gostev, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service; Dmitry Bezrukikh, head of the Main Directorate of the Rostov Region Federal Penitentiary Service; and Ivan Prokopenko, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service in the Tula region, were among those targeted.
Ella Pamfilova, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, and Andrey Burov, chairman of the Rostov Election Committee, were also named. Regional leaders including Sergei Melikov of Dagestan, Batu Khasikov of Kalmykia, and Mahmud-Ali of Ingushetia were listed along with governors Vasily Golubev (Rostov), Alexander Burkov (Omsk), Andrey Chibis (Murmansk), Vyacheslav Gladkov (Belgorod), Sergey Nosov (Magadan), Alexander Tsybulsky (Arkhangelsk), and Veniamin Kondratyev (Krasnodar Territory).
Military commissars from Moscow, Rostov, Kaliningrad and other regions were cited, including Maksim Loktev, Igor Egorov, Yuri Boychenko, Oleg Denisenko, and Marat Usmanov. Also included was Jahongir Jalolov, head of the Association of Central Asian Uzbeks in the Perm Region.
The sanctions prohibit these individuals from entering the United Kingdom, and any existing presence within the country would be frozen in line with the measures.
Reason for sanctions
Dmitry Manturov, who oversees Russia’s defense industry, is deemed responsible for arming the mobilized army, according to statements from the Foreign Office. The Central Election Commission’s head, Ella Pamfilova, is cited for supporting mobilization and overseeing referendums in several newly incorporated Russian regions. The Rostov election head, Andrei Burov, is similarly referenced.
The head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Arkady Gostev, and Dmitry Bezrukikh, who leads the Rostov region’s penitentiary directorate, are said to have cooperated with a private security enterprise to recruit for the Wagner mercenary group, with Ivan Prokopenko in the Tula region also linked to Wagner recruitment efforts. The British authorities claim that some inmates and offenders were recruited in exchange for amnesty, contributing to the label of the area as a Wagner recruitment center.
Further, ten governors and regional leaders were sanctioned for their roles in organizing mobilization. Regions such as Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Kalmykia are described as among the least affluent and are noted for contributing a sizable share of the mobilized soldiers. The Moscow military commissar and other regional officials were accused of undermining or threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as was Jahongir Jalolov, head of the Central Asian Uzbeks association in the Perm Region.
These measures come within a broader effort tied to Russia’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine. The United Kingdom has periodically imposed restrictions on Russian officials, companies, and state organizations since the war began, with more than a thousand individuals and over a hundred entities placed on sanctions lists, including prominent figures such as the president and key ministries and state enterprises.
Reactions to the sanctions
Several individuals on the sanctions list have publicly responded. The governors of southern regions offered brief reactions on social media, describing the sanctions as expected and continuing to pursue their work despite the penalties. The Rostov regional leadership echoed a similar sentiment, framing the measures as anticipated and reaffirming their ongoing operations.